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Up Close and Personal feat. Leong Teng Wui, The Ascott Limited
31 October 2022
On 25 October 2022, a group of ULI’s student members and I were given the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with Leong Teng Wui, Chief Development Officer of The Ascott Limited and Head of Projects and Technical Services at Capitaland’s Project Development Group. Having never met Teng Wui prior to this event and with only pictures as reference, I was not quite sure what to expect and was admittedly a little nervous. But by the end the event, it became clear to me that none of this was warranted.
Teng Wui comes across as man that is relaxed, down to earth and more importantly relatable. There were no airs about him and it was clear from the get-go that he would be open to chat on any topic, which I am sure the students and I appreciated. The students took this opportunity to ask many questions over a range of topics that were all very interesting. Out of all that was discussed, I will share on three topics that particularly stood out to me.
Teng Wui’s career has spanned across the public and private sector having held senior positions in both. This has allowed him to work on many very large projects, so it was unsurprising that he was asked about the most interesting project he had worked on. For a man who had worked on massive projects like Orchard Road and Marina Bay, I was surprised when he replied that it was a recent co-living project Ascott has embarked on, lyf (pronounced as life).
(L-R) Divya Sangaraju; Leong Teng Wui
He shared that the project had done, to my surprise, pretty well for itself throughout the pandemic. Given how important home ownership is to Singaporeans, I expected such residential assets to be supported mainly by expatriates, but it was surprising to hear that lyf actually had quite a strong Singapore base which had helped it maintain a high occupancy rate throughout the pandemic. The demographics of lyf’s Singaporean base was also interesting as it had a mix of individuals across ages and did not include solely younger Singaporeans (trying to escape having to live with their parents, of course). It did make me wonder if perhaps we were starting to see a shift in preferences among Singaporeans to rent their homes, as is common in many other countries. Teng Wui acknowledged this trend but also noted that owning a home is very much an entrenched concept in Singapore’s public policy and is unlikely to shift at least in the short run.
Teng Wui was also asked about the importance of aged care and the need to constantly think ahead especially within the real estate industry. Like many other developed countries, Singapore has an ageing population which has seen a shift in the type of residential infrastructure in demand. Filling this gap is made even more challenging given that aged care facilities have a strong stigma associated with them in Singapore making it a very unpopular option for many families.
Leong Teng Wui reflecting on key real estate trends steered by socioeconomic factors
However, he noted that aged care facilities are beginning to transition in Singapore and highlighted Kampong Admiralty as an example (a project integrating housing for the elderly with a range of social facilities). Ascott too has been watching this space closely and have been trying to find innovative ways to help use their brand to help tackle this need. I remember thinking to myself, hotel quality senior living with the freedom to do what I would like, where do I sign up? The most interesting part of this discussion was to me the main competitors he had identified to aged living facilities. I was half expecting to hear some big brands being suggested but instead, he identified domestic helpers that are often much cheaper to hire than retirement homes to be a key rival to creating such a concept. Aged care while becoming increasingly important will need to navigate these various challenges before becoming a mainstay in Singapore.
As we moved towards the end of the chat, Teng Wui was asked if he had any advice to younger professionals who were beginning or in the midst of their careers. I could see ears perking up across the room, this was clearly a topic close to everyone’s hearts.
He had one advice: go after skills not jobs. Having graduated with a degree in Architecture several years ago, Teng Wui never once imagined that he would be in the position he currently is in. He credited this to the fact that with every job he took, he learnt a new skill that eventually led him to where he currently is. I found this advice to be quite enlightening. My friends and I often find ourselves wondering whether our careers were heading in the right direction, his advice reassured me that as long as I was constantly learning and developing new skills on the job, it would all eventually work out.
I came away from the chat with Teng Wui feeling like I had really learnt quite a bit from discussion. Given that the chat went well beyond the hour that it was scheduled for, I imagine that the ULI student members who attended felt the same. All in all, I would 10/10 recommend anyone thinking about attending these chats to take advantage of the opportunity to talk to a senior leader in the business. I know I came away with lots of food for thought and cannot wait to see who ULI features next!
ULI Singapore encourage students to join ULI and gain access to knowledge and peers as we work as a community to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. To find out more, email singapore @uli.org
